Preparation

For cake:

Position rack in center of oven and
preheat to 350°F. Butter and flour two
9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high
sides. Line bottom of each cake pan
with parchment paper round; butter and
flour parchment. Place chopped chocolate
in medium metal bowl. Set bowl over
saucepan of barely simmering water and
stir until chocolate is melted and smooth.
Remove bowl from over water and set aside.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking
soda, and salt in medium bowl to blend.
Using electric mixer, beat butter and 11/4
cups sugar in large bowl until fluffy and
pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks
1 at a time, beating until well blended after
each addition. Beat in lukewarm melted
chocolate, then stout and coffee. Beat
flour mixture into chocolate mixture in 2
additions just until incorporated.

Using serrated knife, trim rounded
tops from both cake layers so that tops
are flat. Place 1 cake layer, trimmed side
up, on 9-inch-diameter tart pan bottom or
cardboard round, then place on rack set
over baking sheet. Drop 1 1/4 cups frosting
by large spoonfuls over top of cake layer;
spread frosting evenly to edges with offset
spatula or butter knife. Top with second
cake layer, trimmed side down. Spread
remaining frosting evenly over top and
sides of cake. DO AHEAD: Can be made up
to 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome
and refrigerate. Let cake stand at room
temperature at least 1 hour and up to 3
hours before serving.

Ingredient tip:
If you can find it, use a
chocolate stout (Brooklyn Brewery and
Oregon's Rogue Brewery make it) in
the cake batter. The chocolaty flavors
in the beer come from dark-roasting the
malts. Some brewers even add a little
chocolate to the beer as well. If you can’t
find chocolate stout, use another stout,
such as Guinness. Sierra Nevada Porter and
Samuel Adams Honey Porter would also
work well in this recipe.

SELECT LATEST REVIEWS

Very chocolatey and a little hint of alcohol in my finished cake. Since it was in 9-inch tins, I lowered the temp to 325F and had no issues with dryness or doneness. It's just about like any all-butter cake in terms of dryness. I split the layers and filled with pastry cream rather than do the frosting. To me, the double chocolate oil based cake with 1K epi reviews is better. And the stout based gingerbread is totally fantastic especially with minced candied ginger and cranberries added in. That gingerbread is how I ended up with leftover stout for baking.

joaodasilva / 02.18.15

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I have 2 questions-1) can I bake this in a bundt pan?
2) do you know what changes I should make for high altitude of 5000 ft.?
Thank you so much-this looks like a must!

pamelakrugman from Loveland, Colorado / 03.13.14

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Used a raspberry porter and was very, very pleased with the result. Followed the recommendation from another reviewer to add 2 tbsp of sour cream. Cake was moist, flavors fantastic.

Willaby from New York, NY / 01.11.14

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One of the best cakes I have ever made. Really nice flavor. Given all the reports of "dry" cake, I baked my cake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes and I'm glad for it. It's always easier to set the timer for a shorter period of time and leave it in if needed. I used Yeti Imperial Stout and Scharfenberger chocolate, and for the first time I tried superfine Castor Sugar. The frosting did make me nervous so I ended up adding powdered sugar as a crutch. I don't know if things would have been different in its absence. Topped this cake with raspberries.

marinahench from Austin, TX / 09.02.13

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Add 1/4 cup buttermilk and 2 TBSP sour cream to keep cake moist

hansoma2003 from NYC / 08.19.13

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If folks say this cake is too dry, they are not following the recipe correctly. Probably the result of either 1) too much flour, or 2) cooking too long. WEIGH the flour to avoid packing it a cup, and CHECK the cake while it's baking. Each oven is different. I've made this cake at least 10 times, and it's always a hit. It's not a sweet cake, and most definitely for chocolate lovers.

eclecticdeb / 08.08.13

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Love this cake! I made it for my wife's return from a trip, and she loved it so much she made it for me two weeks later for my birthday. The recipe is so very easy to follow, and the results are worth the work. Paired with the same Stout in the recipe, so so good. I recommend using Rogue Chocolate Stout.

shnrbrown from San Francisco, CA / 07.18.13

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I made this cake for my 19 year old sons birthday. He loves chocolate cake and he loved this one. The cake is very dense and delicious - good in every way. The icing I will change next time. I love ganache but the espresso in this recipe just took away from the deliciousness of the chocolate. It made it less sweet tasting, maybe slightly bitter. It was still good but better for me without.

smsT from Philly / 07.05.13

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I made this for a
friend's birthday.
It was a huge hit --
amazing cake! Very
choclate-y and
dense. Yum!

lobster36 from San Francisco / 05.21.13

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I mistakenly decided to make this cake because of the stellar reviews, even though I usually use a different recipe (Bon Appétit, September 2002). This recipe was an absolute disaster. I cannot understand how the cake had no flavor after the number and amount of good-quality ingredients I used. The texture of the cake was off to me as well: I am used to a delightfully dense cake, similar to other stout cakes I have made or eaten out, but this cake had a texture that fell somewhere in the unpleasant territory between a boxed cake and an angelfood cake. The icing was decent but could not carry the flavor of the entire cake. I would advise everyone to not make this cake. I ended up throwing it away rather than serving it to my friends.